Saturday, July 4, 2009 | Reason : Interviews | print version

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50 Voices of Disbelief, an interview with Russell Blackford and Udo Schuklenk

by Viktor Nagornyy - Rochester Atheism Examiner

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-14681-Rochester-Atheism-Examiner~y2009m6d30-50-Voices-of-Disbelief-an-interview-with-Russell-Blackford-and-Udo-Schuklenk

Have you ever wondered why Michael Shermer is an atheist, or Margaret Downey, or A.C. Grayling, or James Randi, or Victor Stenger, or many other well known atheists? You will be able to find out this coming fall. The new book “50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists” by Russell Blackford and Udu Schuklenk is a collection of essays by some of the most prominent on why they are atheists. Inspirational stories and philosophical monologues will provide a doorway into the author’s life, and shed some light on their journey to the land of non-belief.

Both authors agreed to a small interview to tell readers more about their book and why they’ve decided to create it. If you’re intrigued by this book, read this interview and you will see that it is a must read for any atheist. If you’re still hiding in the “closet”, this book will inspire and give you energy to kick the door open and tell everyone that you’re an atheist. Just think about it, reading these stories is like having conversations with Austin Dacey, Peter Singer, Lori Lipman Brown, and many more. Why not immerse yourself into the lives of your favorite authors and people you admire?

Whose initial idea was it to create this book and why?

Udo: I think it was my idea. I have been involved in academic publishing for some 15 years or so by now and at one point one gets a reasonable sense or what might or might not work in the market place. We have seen a series of monographs by folks like Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, all of which were wildly successful. It seems the time is ripe for a project where high-profile people from all walks of public life are given an opportunity to declare their disbelief, as well as their reasons for not buying into the fairy tale of an all-knowing, all-powerful, good God. I guess my main motive was some kind of frustration (that’s putting it mildly) about religious people’s published musings about how they "struggled to find God" only to eventually succumb to the delusions we all know too well. It seemed only fair game to me to let reality-based people explain why they did better.

Russell: Yes, it was Udo's idea. Of course, I jumped at it when he asked me to come on board. I was enthusiastic about the idea and flattered that he thought my skills would be useful.
...
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http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-14681-Rochester-Atheism-Examiner~y2009m6d30-50-Voices-of-Disbelief-an-interview-with-Russell-Blackford-and-Udo-Schuklenk

Posted: Saturday, July 4, 2009 | Permalink

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1. Comment #393371 by Thor25 on July 4, 2009 at 6:38 pm

I can't wait for this one.

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2. Comment #393373 by Sheol99 on July 4, 2009 at 6:45 pm

Yes, about time somebody write this kind of book.

Atheism - non religiousity to be precise - should be the social revolution of the near future. The religions as crutches of humanity is about to stop now, in the same way as feudalism, aristocracy ..

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3. Comment #393379 by NewEnglandBob on July 4, 2009 at 7:23 pm

I have been seeing more blog postings by Russell Blackford lately and admire his writings.

This book sounds very interesting as is the interview of both Russell Blackford and Udo Schuklenk.

Other Comments by NewEnglandBob

4. Comment #393383 by Frankus1122 on July 4, 2009 at 7:32 pm

I am looking forward to it.

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5. Comment #393386 by bluebird on July 4, 2009 at 7:39 pm

...use it as an alternative Christmas gift

Good idea!!! I saw it listed on Amazon.com.uk too.

Enjoyed the interview - thanks for posting.

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6. Comment #393398 by j.mills on July 4, 2009 at 8:48 pm

Our own li'l Russell! Well done, chaps!

As I commented below the article: "Sounds like a really interesting book, though I suspect the cover will lead to religites claiming that atheism is 'bringing the darkness'. Good discussion."

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7. Comment #393403 by j.mills on July 4, 2009 at 9:06 pm

Here's the list of essays, pilfered from the Facebook page mentioned in the article:

Unbelievable! — Russell Blackford
My “Bye Bull” Story — Margaret Downey
How benevolent is God? – An argument from suffering to atheism — Nicholas Everitt
A Deal-breaker — Ophelia Benson
Why Am I a Nonbeliever? – I Wonder... — J. L. Schellenberg
Wicked or Dead? Reflections on the moral character and existential status of God — John Harris
Religious Belief and Self-Deception — Adèle Mercier
The Coming of Disbelief — J.J.C. Smart
What I Believe —Graham Oppy
Too Good to Be True, Too Obscure to Explain: The Cognitive Shortcomings of Belief in God — Thomas W. Clark
How to Think About God: Theism, Atheism, and Science — Michael Shermer
A Magician Looks at Religion — James Randi
Confessions of a Kindergarten Leper — Emma Tom
Beyond Disbelief — Philip Kitcher
An ambivalent nonbelief — Taner Edis
Why Not? — Sean M. Carroll
Godless Cosmology — Victor J. Stenger
Unanswered Prayers — Christine Overall
Beyond Faith and Opinion — Damien Broderick
Could it be pretty obvious there’s no God? — Stephen Law
Atheist, obviously — Julian Baggini
Why I am Not a Believer — A.C. Grayling
Evil and Me — Gregory Benford
Who’s Unhappy? — Lori Lipman Brown
Reasons to be Faithless — Sheila A.M. McLean
Three Stages of Disbelief — Julian Savulescu
Born Again, Briefly — Greg Egan
Cold Comfort — Ross Upshur
The Accidental Exorcist — Austin Dacey
Atheist Out of the Foxhole — Joe Haldeman
The Unconditional Love of Reality — Dale McGowan
Antinomies — Jack Dann
Giving up ghosts and gods — Susan Blackmore
Some thoughts on why I am an atheist — Tamas Pataki
No Gods, Please! — Laura Purdy
Welcome Me Back to the World of the Thinking — Kelly O'Connor
Kicking Religion Goodbye … — Peter Adegoke
On credenda — Miguel Kottow
“Not even start to ignore those questions!” A voice of disbelief in a different key — Frieder Otto Wolf
Imagine No Religion — Edgar Dahl
Humanism as Religion: An Indian Alternative — Sumitra Padmanabhan
Why I am NOT a theist — Prabir Ghosh
When the Hezbollah came to my school — Maryam Namazie
Evolutionary Noise, not Signal from Above — Athena Andreadis
Gods Inside — Michael R. Rose and John P. Phelan
Why Morality Doesn’t Need Religion — Peter Singer and Marc Hauser
Doctor Who and the Legacy of Rationalism — Sean Williams
My non-religious life: A journey from superstition to rationalism — Peter Tatchell
Helping People to Think Critically About Their Religious Beliefs — Michael Tooley
Human Self-Determination, Biomedical Progress, and God — Udo Schuklenk.

Delighted to see the SF writers in there, particularly the excellent Greg Egan. I hope the book includes a little bio on each contributor, 'cos many of them names is greek to me! :)

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8. Comment #393416 by mordacious1 on July 4, 2009 at 11:15 pm

Sounds like a nice book, but $82 for the hardcover and $27 for the paperback...yikes. And yes, I understand that smaller publishers have higher costs.

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9. Comment #393424 by mmurray on July 5, 2009 at 12:31 am

So who did they miss: Hitchen, Dawkins, Harris, Dennet, Ian McEwan ?

I notice the Independent on Sunday posts an annual Pink List of 100 influential gay and lesbian (actually not many lesbians) people in the UK.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/the-iiosi-pink-list-2009-1721869.html

Perhaps RD.net could start a new tradition of an annual 100 influential atheists list -- what colour would we be ? Red for the devil ?

Michael

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10. Comment #393477 by tuibguy on July 5, 2009 at 5:54 am

Michael, it must be hard to limit such a book to 50 contributors; and while I am a fan of each of the excluded people you mention I look forward to reading the words of those included. Some of them are people I have never heard of before.

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11. Comment #393482 by Russell Blackford on July 5, 2009 at 6:09 am

Hey, great to see this here. Thanks, RD.net!

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12. Comment #393493 by gos on July 5, 2009 at 7:37 am

I would also have liked to see Martin Amis. Sounds like a great book, nonetheless.

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13. Comment #393495 by j.mills on July 5, 2009 at 7:39 am

The hardcover price is startling, but the paperback is an affordable £14.44 on amazon UK.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/50-Voices-Disbelief-Why-Atheists/dp/1405190469

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14. Comment #393502 by KRKBAB on July 5, 2009 at 8:15 am

Comment #393403 by j.mills -Hey, that's a great list- very heartening and quite ON topic of this article. Others should read the list you supplied if they haven't. I particularily liked these two titles: "The Unconditional Love of Reality", and "Too Good to Be True, Too Obscure to Explain; The Cognitive Shortcomings of Belief in God". Nice.

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15. Comment #393507 by KRKBAB on July 5, 2009 at 8:32 am

And I presumed that Russell Blackford would have black hair. That's not a superficial assumption, is it?
Presume/assume- one being a transitive verb and the other an intransitive verb still isn't enough of an explanation for me to decide which to use. I usually safely presume I will instinctively choose the wrong one, though.

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16. Comment #393582 by notsobad on July 5, 2009 at 3:24 pm

mmurray

I notice the Independent on Sunday posts an annual Pink List of 100 influential gay and lesbian (actually not many lesbians) people in the UK.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/the-iiosi-pink-list-2009-1721869.html

Perhaps RD.net could start a new tradition of an annual 100 influential atheists list -- what colour would we be ? Red for the devil ?

Along with the 100 Most influential people with moustache and 100 Most influential lef-handed people...

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17. Comment #393751 by j.mills on July 6, 2009 at 9:23 am

Wait, this is getting confusing. Please can we have a list of the 100 Most Influential Lists?

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18. Comment #394229 by Swordmaiden on July 7, 2009 at 12:19 pm

I have pre-ordered this on Amazon....look forward to it! Congrats Russell...proud to know you!

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19. Comment #394238 by Bonzai on July 7, 2009 at 1:20 pm

I wonder who would buy this book. I am not sure why I should care why some other guys become atheists, I am sure they have their reasons. It is not like I am in search for an argument or need convincing.

"Non believing" is really not that interesting or deep a topic that you can spend so much time reading and writing about it. Once you realize religion is infantile fairy tales you just move on to do more interesting things.

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20. Comment #394239 by Gregg Townsend on July 7, 2009 at 1:33 pm

Bonzai,

I think it may be for interest in the journey of our fellow humans. The differences between us and the paths we take can be fascinating...to me anyway.

I'll buy the book, if for no other reason, to support Russell. Still, I'm sure I'll enjoy it.

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21. Comment #394240 by Bonzai on July 7, 2009 at 1:34 pm

I notice the Independent on Sunday posts an annual Pink List of 100 influential gay and lesbian (actually not many lesbians) people in the UK.

I was half expecting to find steve Zara on the list...:)

P.S. Did you write the book "differential geometry and statistics"? It is probably not going to be on the the top rd.net reading list, but nice, still. :)

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22. Comment #394241 by root2squared on July 7, 2009 at 1:37 pm

"Have you ever wondered why Michael Shermer is an atheist, or Margaret Downey, or A.C. Grayling, or James Randi, or Victor Stenger, or many other well known atheists?"

No. But I have wondered why billions of people on this planet are not atheists. The improbability and holes in logic in religion are so huge that anyone honestly interested in the truth and seeking it can only become an atheist.

Being an atheist doesn't mean you are very smart. Not being an atheist, however, does cast some doubts on the clarity of thought in your brain.

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23. Comment #394242 by Steve Zara on July 7, 2009 at 1:39 pm

Comment #394241 by root2squared

I think we should question the clarity of thoughts in everyone's brains, not just believers!

Our brains are pretty rubbish in so many ways.

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24. Comment #394244 by Hellene on July 7, 2009 at 1:45 pm

23. Comment #394242 by Steve Zara

"Our brains are pretty rubbish in so many ways. "

Hear, hear!

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25. Comment #394246 by Steve Zara on July 7, 2009 at 1:47 pm

Comment #394238 by Bonzai

I have ordered it. How could you not be interested in a book that has such an amazing range of people contributing - from A.C. Grayling to Kelly O'Connor?

I am sure there are going to be some strongly contrasting views and styles.

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26. Comment #394248 by root2squared on July 7, 2009 at 1:53 pm

23. Comment #394242 by Steve Zara on July 7, 2009 at 1:39 pm

Tecnically yes, but on average, believers are clearly way more wooly headed.

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27. Comment #394249 by Steve Zara on July 7, 2009 at 1:55 pm

Comment #394248 by root2squared

I'm not sure about that. Most people are believers simply because they have not been educated about rationalism.

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28. Comment #394250 by Tezcatlipoca on July 7, 2009 at 1:56 pm

Joe Haldeman huh? I knew there was an underlying reason I liked his works of sci fi.

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29. Comment #394251 by root2squared on July 7, 2009 at 2:04 pm

27. Comment #394249 by Steve Zara on July 7, 2009 at 1:55 pm

But I don't think you need an education in rationalism to be able to realize that talking snakes don't make any sense. And the fact that your religion is determined by an accident of birth. And so many others. These are concepts any average 15 year old can grasp. And so, certainly any average adult, who is really interested in the truth can figure it out in half an hour.

I mean to say plain common sense is enough.

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30. Comment #394253 by Steve Zara on July 7, 2009 at 2:10 pm

Comment #394251 by root2squared

And so, certainly any average adult, who is really interested in the truth can figure it out in half an hour.

I guess it depends what you mean by 'figure it out'. I was a Catholic as an adult. I didn't believe in the snakes, and I knew that my religion was an accident of birth.

I am sure a lot of believers just think that there 'is something out there', and stick with a certain faith out of comfort and tradition.

What I am trying to get at is that we are all pretty average people. Our brains don't suddenly improve in quality when we stop believing in Gods. We still lose our car keys.

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31. Comment #394256 by root2squared on July 7, 2009 at 2:20 pm

30. Comment #394253 by Steve Zara

Let's say person x and person y are on average equal in math, science, and language. Now, the moment one of them (say x) starts believing in talking snakes, you can objectively say that x is now below average or not as clear thinking as y, even if both of them are equal in every other way.

Yes, our brains don't suddenly improve in quality when we stop believing in Gods. But we do stop believing in Gods when our brains improve in quality as we grow up.

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32. Comment #394262 by j.mills on July 7, 2009 at 2:42 pm

root2squared said:

Now, the moment one of them (say x) starts believing in talking snakes, you can objectively say that x is now below average or not as clear thinking as y...

If I may play theist's advocate: you can be perfectly clear-thinking and yet arrive at disastrously wrong conclusions if your initial premises are wrong. If for instance you start out with the premise that the bible is true, then arguably the whole of creationism follows.

This is actually the problem: two unfounded beliefs can support an entire edifice of perfectly rational 'worldview'. Belief 1: there's a god and it's such-and-such. Belief 2: faith is a virtue. The doctrines intrinsic to belief 1 uphold belief 2, and belief 2 upholds belief 1. You don't have to be illogical to be a theist ("but it helps"): you only have to refuse to question the foundational beliefs (a refusal demanded by the foundational beliefs).

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33. Comment #394263 by Eric Blair on July 7, 2009 at 2:43 pm

I don’t know a lot of the folks here, so I might skim it if it makes my local library. Bit pricey for my budget, I’m afraid.

I too wonder who would buy it. People are (obviously) curious about why Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens doesn’t believe, but most of these people… not so much.

EB

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34. Comment #394266 by j.mills on July 7, 2009 at 2:46 pm

I think it's precisely because this is a varied bunch of people with widely different backgrounds that this will be an interesting book. And it sounds like they've taken different approaches to the topic too.

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35. Comment #394267 by Corylus on July 7, 2009 at 2:50 pm

Comment #394263 by Eric Blair:

I too wonder who would buy it. People are (obviously) curious about why Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens doesn’t believe, but most of these people… not so much.

Well, I am curious about the Oppy piece.

However, I am actively looking forward to the Stephen Law chapter (a bit of a hero of mine). A smart guy, but obviously a humane person as well.

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36. Comment #394574 by Eric Blair on July 8, 2009 at 3:13 pm

I meant real people - not people posting here. :)

EB

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37. Comment #394582 by Corylus on July 8, 2009 at 3:30 pm

Comment #394574 by Eric Blair: